'The Judgement of Maat' chapter 12!
I appologize for the long wait... there's been a month since my last upload.
In my defence, I was drowning in university stuff O.o 1 out of 5 exams left :3
I hope you enjoy this chapter :D
Altair sat on his own on the flat part of the roof of a tall building, surveying the large and busy street about eighty feet under him. Despite the unpleasant warm and moist air of the afternoon the street was crawling with activity and he could see without being seen, as people went on with their own buisness without even bothering looking up to the sky. Not that the tower-like building was an architectural pearl worth admiring either. The assassin's white robes offered little contrast against the heavy white stones, and though the citizens of Rome seemed to pay their surroundings little attention, Altair did. Nothing escaped his attention in his search for Frédérique Lacroix.
Three weeks had passed since he and Ezio had escaped the Knight of the Cross' grip and nobody had neither seen nor heard anything about the man since. Mario's informants had worked hard to find the Frenchman but had come up with absolutely nothing, he had just suddenly disappeared.
He may have left the city or he could still be out there somewhere, hiding, waiting for the moment to strike. Mario Auditore had said. We should not lower our guard just yet.
Altair had been the one appointed to continue keeping an eye out for the Templar while everyone else went back to other assignments, Ezio included. Altair did not know what his former partner's mission had been, but the Italian had left Rome a week ago, in the direction of Florence, Tuscany. The Arab did not really care either and had not been there to see him off. Just thinking about Ezio made Altair's anger flare up, and the longer he stayed away from Rome, the better it would be for the both of them.
Something touched Altair's gloved hand. By reflex, the sharp hidden blade at the assassin's wrist jumped out to take the place of his right ring finger, ready for a deadly bite. At the surprising sight of what he had readied himself to stab, he rose an eyebrow. A small thing full of orange fur with pointy ears and a fluffy tail was looking up at him with two green eyes. The sharp blade retracted itself into its leather sheath and the Arab picked up the little creature.
''A cat?''
The animal sitting in his palm was not much larger than his hand, yet it seemed unafraid and just kept looking at the assassin, its head bobbed to the side. Amused, Altair watched it curl itself into a ball as it started to purr and scratched the cat's cheek, turning his hooded head back to the street. The sun was setting quickly, bathing the city in warm, orange light but storm clouds in the horizon and a distant yet loud rumbling announced a night of rain and thunder. Nightfall was close when the assassin gave up looking for Lacroix for the day and nudged the sleeping kitten with the tip of his finger.
''Sorry, little guy, but I'll be going. You should find your mother.''
Had he not known better, he would have thought that the animal understood exactly what he said. The green eyes looked into his, but instead of jumping down to the ground, the cat decided to jump from the assassin's hand to his shoulder and looked at something behind him. Altair turned around. On a ledge not far was a hairy form, lying immobile on the stone. Judging from the lack of stench the animal had not been dead for long, but a couple of crows were already gathering nearby.
''Oh. I guess you'll be coming with me, then.''
Florence had had more luck with the weather than Rome. The air had been heavy and moist during the day but there were no storm clouds in sight and the air had cooled as soon as the sun went down. Nonchalently sitting on a tree branch in a park, Ezio rested his head against the bark, enjoying his own company for a moment. The assassin wore civil clothes, a green tunic over a white shirt and brown trousers, the only remaining elements from his assassin uniform being the knee-high leather boots and the sharp dagger at his belt. Absently playing with the small wooden beads of his necklaces, he was calmly dangling one of his legs back and forth. Tomorrow he would be heading back, his mission here in Florence concluded earlier this day. He would be back to Rome, back to uncle Mario... and back to Altair.
His scarred lips stretched into a grin. Altair, his deadly, rough and yet wonderful partner. The Arab had avoided Ezio since Leonardo's atelier and not once had he asked Ezio how his injuries recovered. The last time they saw eachother was in the hallway of the Assassins' headquarters in Rome, and Altair had walked past him without a word. Still, Ezio had not missed the slight narrowing of the grey eyes into dangerous slits as the other assassin became aware of him. The Italian was not stupid, he knew exactly why. It was also part of the plan, a plan he disliked despite the fact that it was his own. Altair's behavior, though it had remained proud and cold, had changed since Maat sent him to this time and Ezio knew his partner had come to develop a soft spot for him. The Arab would stubbornly deny it if asked, of course.
In the beginning, Altair had barely cared about Ezio's well-being because they worked together and were supposed to keep eachother alive. But in the moment Ezio was faced with the threat that was Jaques Lefevre, the way the tan assassin had reacted had shown that he cared for Ezio in a manner he would not for just any partner. The Italian hated himself for it, but this could not continue. Maat had sent Altair here to become a better man, and what would happen once he became so? The chances were great that the goddess would take away his youth and send him back to his own time and place, where he truely belonged.
What would become of Ezio then? With Altair as his partner he felt whole, safe. The man was always there to watch his back, and even though they argued most of the time, the Italian did not want his back watched by anyone else. When the goddess took Altair away, Ezio would be back to his old life as an assassin but lacking something. He could not let that happen. He could not let Altair reach his goal, even if it meant sabotaging everything.
Sure, they had hated eachother violently when they first met. Altair's calm yet threatening facade had irritated Ezio endlessly, making him want to crack this unbearable emotionless person, to hurt him. Even less emotions as an answer to his pestering was the last thing Ezio had expected, leading to an escalation as they both were too proud to let the other win. Then he had gotten an idea: In a fair fight they were equally strong, but Ezio was good at a lot more than fighting. Using tricks he had learned with women against Altair would throw the other assassin off for a second, and a second was all it took for power to choose sides. The plan had both succeeded and backfired. The Italian using his body to fight Altair in other ways than inflicting him physical pain had surprised the Arab enough to let his anger and irritation shine through, but it had also awakened Ezio's curiosity. It had become fun to test how far he could go before Altair's impassive mask fell to pieces like a broken mirror, but before he saw it coming he began enjoying it in other ways entirely.
Ezio saw himself as a rather handsome and attractive individual but the Arab was nothing less, and his pride depending on not giving in made him special in a way. No matter how much Ezio loved women, easy conquests were starting to bore him and ended up looking all the same. Teasing Altair was fun but became soon something he craved for and began to touch his partner because he also longed for contact.
The feeling of his partner's warm body pressed against his own, his enticing skin and the taste of his lips... God how he wanted it again, how he wanted Altair's fingers tangled in his hair or caressing his scars while he slid the grey tunic off the man's shoulders.
Then it had hit the Italian. As he was the one who had started the game, his own pride also depended on not giving in either, pride that became more and more difficult to keep the more he kept destroying their partnership. Flirting was the only weapon that worked against the impassive assassin but it was also a double-edged sword, something Ezio had come to realize the day they met Marcia and was careful about ever since. The further he went the more irritated Altair became, backing away from his goal indeed, but also the more Ezio struggled not to show how much he wanted him.
He had barely succeeded at Leonardo's atelier, mascarading what he did for pleasure as a crude game for power which would give him what he wanted as well as keeping Altair's growing hatred for him alive.
Ezio shook his head and chuckled.
Merda. This was turning into some sort of cliché tragedy.
He sighed and let himself slide down from the branch, landing silently on the grass ten feet below. He realized that it was quite late and that he should be resting for the early departure the next morning, but his mind was far too agitated and he was certainly not leaving Florence without visiting a certain person.
It was way past midnight when he reached Cristina's house. He hade already been there a couple of times during his stay, waiting for the young woman to appear, but in vain. Tonight he had more luck. Standing on the large white balcony on the front of the house she shared with her husband, Cristina was looking out over the garden, not aware of her former lover's presence by the front door. She still wore her dress, apparently having decided not to go to bed just yet. Her slender fingers were tight around a golden locket hanging at a chain around her elegant neck, and Ezio's spirits lifted when he spotted her.
The memory of the last time they had met was still fresh. At that time she had been both sad and furious because Ezio had let her marry her husband, when it was him she wanted and not Manfredo. No matter how much he had wished he could have married her, as an assassin, he could not. Now, he was not sure that she would see him, but decided to try nonetheless.
''Cristina.''
Her dark eyes found him and widened. God was she beautiful.
''Ezio!'' She whispered between her teeth.
They looked at eachother for a couple of seconds, and he was not sure of what she thought before she gathered her long skirt in her fists and stepped over the railing to climb down the solid rose tree hugging the house wall with its branches. Ezio watched her land safely on her feet. She had obviously kept the adventurous girl inside her alive. She ran at him and flung her arms around him, hugging him warmly. When they finally seperated, her face was illuminated by a large smile.
''Come with me.'' She said, taking his hand.
She lead them to the garden, where they found a beautifully sculpted stone bench.
''I wasn't sure you would see me.'' He said, sitting down.
''I understand. I must really appologize for my behavior, but the last time we met, I was a girl scared to death by her new life. I had married a man I could not force myself to respect and I had just found out that I also was with child, which made the return to my old life impossible. Seeing you again then just reminded me of what I could have had and I snapped. But time passed, and in the end it is not so bad after all.''
''Cristina, I really wish things could have been otherwise, but...''
She stopped him, a firm but friendly hand on his arm.
''You do not need to explain yourself. I trust that you did not leave because you had tired of me, and what made it impossible for us to be together then makes it just as impossible now. Keep your secret. Besides, I am a mother with a beautiful little girl.''
She opened the locket and showed Ezio the small painting of a baby.
''I belong with her and Manfredo now.''
She paused, looking at the young man.
''I loved you and I still do, but the same can not be said about you.''
Anxious, Ezio's eyes turned to her. She chuckled.
''Don't worry, people move on. Love stays or withers, it is different for everyone. I simply do not hold your love anymore, Ezio.''
His heart stung.
''Cristina, I do love you.''
''But as a friend.''
Her delicate hand cupped his cheek as her eyes gazed into his.
''You have changed, you are not a child any longer. You are much more confident and your fondness for the people close to you burns stronger than ever. But the spark that used to lighten up your eyes when you looked at me, the one that said 'I want to spend the rest of my life with you', is gone.''
It was true. He enjoyed sitting here with her, he was happy that she had not rejected to see him. But his fiery love for her was dead, and yet it had been reborn for no other.
''Before you go,'' she whispered, ''I would like you to do one thing for me.''
''Anything.'' He answered.
She removed the chain with the golden locket from around her neck before sitting closer to him. Then she pressed a hand to his chest while tangling the other in his hair.
Oh well. His thoughts about Altair could wait.
Still a couple of chapters to go! :3 This one was a filler, so there's not really any action... but there will be next time, I assure you xD
I'm quite sure that Altair finding a kitty was totally unexpected... and random 8D But the guy needs something cute in his life!